The Office Lights Came Back On
Sometime earlier this year, the office doors opened again.
There was no big announcement. Just a slow shift. One by one, people started showing up at the physical space again. First for a few hours, then for full days. Some missed the hallway conversations. Others needed a break from home. I understood both.
And yet, something became clear: we weren’t going back to the way things were.
Not because we were against meeting in person. But because the system we had designed—our remote-first habits, rituals, and tools—still made more sense. For us, for our work, and for our team.
The Hybrid Trap (and How We Saw It Early)
It didn’t take long to see what could go wrong.
One day, a few teammates gathered in a meeting room and made a decision after standup. They updated the board, but forgot to sync back with the others who weren’t there.
Another time, we noticed some facilitations were drifting back to “room-led mode”—where in-person voices dominated, and remote ones got pushed to the end, or not heard at all.
None of this was intentional. That’s what made it harder.
The shift back to the office wasn’t the issue. The issue was that we were unlearning what had made us effective.
What We Decided
So we paused.
We talked openly about what was happening. We gave each other feedback. And together, we made a call: we would stay remote-first.
Not remote-only. People could still meet in person. But our systems, tools, and decisions would be designed for distributed-first. Always.
Here’s what that looked like in practice:
- All meetings stayed digital-first. Everyone joined from their own screen, even if sitting in the same building.
- Documentation remained central. If it wasn’t in Confluence or Slack, it didn’t happen.
- Facilitations were redesigned so no one dominated—using shared docs, hand signals, async input before sync discussions.
- Async was protected. No shifting standups or planning just because some people were colocated.
- Office presence became a personal choice. It wasn’t the default. It was a tool—for focus, social connection, or brainstorming.
Why It Worked
The answer, I think, is trust.
By then, we had built a culture where feedback flowed quickly, without blame. So when misalignments happened, people named them. And instead of retreating, we adjusted.
We didn’t have to write a policy. We just listened. We asked, “What’s working? What’s not?” We had teammates still working from India, others who weren’t ready to return. So designing for flexibility wasn’t theoretical—it was essential.
A Reflection Mid-Way
I’m writing this now, in the middle of all this shift, because I don’t think there’s one right answer.
But I do think there’s a wrong one: Letting remote-first erode just because the office is available.
The rituals we had built—clear communication, async planning, shared ownership—they weren’t pandemic hacks. They were good ideas. And they still are.
What’s Next
Our decision to stay remote-first gave people freedom. It also gave us something else: the confidence to welcome new teammates, wherever they were.
Soon, our team would grow—across cities, time zones, and countries.
In the next post, I’ll share how we made that possible. How trust, flexibility, and shared rituals helped us onboard and connect, without needing everyone in the same room—or even the same continent.